AaAH Pericles.. I think you have the shoe on the wrong foot.. you interpret my post from the point of view of a low opinion of me :)

You didn't quite get what I intended. Let me try to elaborate.

I suggested only those who have a faith, because they claim to be under the personal heart rule of a higher being. An atheist would not make such a claim. It doesn't mean they are only and always intent on screwing the system for the sake of ill gotten gain, but it surely means they have no ultimate sense of accountablity?

To their fellow man.. maybe..but that kind of accountablity boils down to 'will they catch me or not'.

I will agree though, I do have a rather low estimation of the moral fibre of the natural man. (including myself) I observed a long time ago...that the only thing which changed with the sophistication of the person was the equal sophistication of the sin. Quantity was not the issue, just the quality.

A pep talk from an atheist would be welcome, but it should refer to some kind of standard, even if it's just the 2nd great commandment, "Do for others...etc" they can still be brought to book for that.

I wonder how John Delabosca would feel if some Liberal political identity had his wife, his cousin, his son, and his dog on high paying political persuits? :) Oooh I'd love to be a flie on the wall if he ever piped up about that in parliament.

SANCHO.. I'm ensuring I give you a wide berth for a few weeks :) never know what might happen.. I've seen it b4.

Inspirational readings from secular readings should be heard to inspire and empower our legislators.There are passages from all "holy" books and other forms of literature that make now reference to dependence on supernatural powers. Go to some of the speeches by Abrhham Lincoln Tom Paine Jefferson, Gandhi,Mandela the Dalai Lama etc and let the power of their visions flood the legislators hearts and minds.
How's that for an alternative?

socratease

Porkycrap: << It doesn't mean they are only and always intent on screwing the system for the sake of ill gotten gain, but it surely means they have no ultimate sense of accountablity?

To their fellow man.. maybe..but that kind of accountablity boils down to 'will they catch me or not'. >>

When they are in Parliament, elected Members have no higher accountability than to their electorates. It's called democracy.

What Porky and his Christian mates want is for our governments to retain their vestigial nods to Christianity. My prediction is that the recital of the Lord's Prayer in the Australian Parliament will be history within a decade, if not sooner.

It will be good riddance, I reckon - for all the reasons stated above.

'It will be good riddance,'

It might be good riddance for a short period of time but it is obvious that God will not strive with the complete arrogance of man forever. It will ultimately be good riddance to all the unrepentant evil doers who are self righteous enough to ignore the Creator and His wishes. Some people are naive enough to think that God is going to totally surrender the planet He made to those who worship created things. How pathetic to listen to the clay telling the Potter how things should be run. No wonder the West is in such a mess.

Runner said, “good riddance to all the unrepentant evil doers who are self righteous enough to ignore the Creator and His wishes.”

Polycarp said, “it surely means they (atheists) have no ultimate sense of accountability?”

Gibo said, “If the nation is up to its neck in sin...we wont be getting Gods Staying Hand.”

Phil Zuckerman, professor of sociology and author of Invitation to the Sociology of Religion, said:
” …the most secular countries-those with the highest proportion of atheists and agnostics-are among the most stable, peaceful, free, wealthy, and healthy societies. And the most religious nations-wherein worship of God is in abundance-are among the most unstable, violent, oppressive, poor, and destitute.
One must always be careful, of course, to distinguish between totalitarian nations where atheism is forced upon an unwilling population (such as in North Korea, China, Vietnam, and the former Soviet states) and open, democratic nations where atheism is freely chosen by a well-educated population (as in Sweden, the Netherlands, or Japan).”
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=pzuckerman_26_5

Good riddance to the Parliament’s opening prayer indeed!

PS Polycarp, “I actually think a person walking in the Spirit of Christ is of GREAT benefit to tax payers.”
I’m sure that any government, praying or not, will be of GREAT benefit to some taxpayers. But which taxpayers are the chosen ones?
Certainly not the people who’ve been paying tax all their lives- our elderly.

Because religion has steeply declined in Australia, we could say that there were more faithful churchgoers in the past then there are now.
Most of today’s elderly were raised in Christian religious families. These elderly now live in poverty, more so than other groups in our society.
Why is that? WWJD?

What would Christ say (if he existed) about all those past and more recent parliaments that supposedly walk in the spirit of Christ but did so little for the group that is probably more religious than other groups; our elderly? But many live below the poverty line today.

Prayer doesn’t make our ministers anymore accountable to the taxpayer

CJ says:

"It will be good riddance, I reckon -"

Which...is always easy to say from with-in such a framework, but seldom does such reasoning grapple with the unforeseen consequences of breaking out.

The clearest indications of what does happen when a nation abandons God, is found in the prophets such as Isaiah.

4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?

5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.

6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.

I draw all of our attention to vese 6 especially.
What are we having.. hmmmm I think its the worst drought in living memory. Sobering thought.

Socratease mate.. I guess a reading from any inspring person would be good, except Thomas Payne? eeeuuuuwww that man was a pain in the neck.
No, not him, maybe Sheakesphere or some philosopher... as long as each person speaks from their own philosophical framework..I can see social value in it. My preference is that what we say refers to the One to whom we will all one day give account, but as I said.. it's my preference.

I would not see any value at all in some witch getting up and telling everyone how 'nature' does it for them.. or a Satanist.. so I guess this brings us back to the 'tradition' issue does it not?